[3] During World War II, as France was put in a difficult situation by the German invasion, the Thai army attempted to recover their lost territories in 1940.

[5] In the wake of the Franco-Thai War of 1940, Say Phuthong formed a local Khmer Issarak group around Koh Kong with the aim of "liberat[ing] Cambodia from France".

[7] In 1970, "Uncle Sai" came back from Hanoi and proceeded to establish "Thai Koh Kong partisans" to repel the American influence in Cambodia.

[citation needed] Say Phouthang led a grassroots resistance force based in Areng area, Thmor Bang district, Koh Kong province.

During the elections of May 1993, he was second on the list of candidates for the Cambodia People's Party in Kandal Province, and he won, but he resigned even before the results were published.

In the "rather pluralistic composition of the PRK", Say Puthang was one of the only two powerful individuals who were not Khmer and did not go to Vietnam, who split with Pol Pot before 1975 along with Bou Thang, the Minister of Defence and member of a small northeastern ethnic minority.

[9] He has given the responsibility of Koh Kong provincial governor to his son Yuth Phouthang, and his warrior spirit lives on through his of kick boxer-turned-movie-star grandson Eh Phuthong.

[15] In 2018, on National Road that he helped to build to connect Phnom Penh to Koh Kong, a massive monument was inaugurated in his honor in presence of his old friends Heng Samrin, Tea Banh and Tep Vong.